


The Arrangement

by HeyYousGuys



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, M/M, Mention of Casual Sex, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-22
Updated: 2020-05-22
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:00:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24315463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeyYousGuys/pseuds/HeyYousGuys
Summary: “Can I be honest with you, Castiel?” Lisa adjusted her position on the couch so she was turned to face him squarely, one knee crooked up on the cushions.“Okay…” he replied hesitantly, not sure he wanted honesty from her.“I am jealous. But not of you. Not that you have him and I don’t anymore.” Castiel quirked one eyebrow, not sure that he believed her. “I’m jealous of what you two have. Because I don’t have it. With anyone. That’s what made me and Dean’s arrangement so nice for me. I could pretend. I could pretend that we were happy. And that things were good. I could pretend that I had a love to last a lifetime. And then…”“...and then he met me,” Castiel finished her sentence, tears coming to his eyes.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Lisa Braeden/Dean Winchester
Comments: 2
Kudos: 29





	The Arrangement

**Author's Note:**

> I had started writing this, intending to turn it into a longer story. But then I lost interest and never picked it back up. I recently reread it and realized it could stand on its own as a ficlet. So I figured I'd post it to get it out of my "WIPs" folder so I don't feel so overwhelmed by how many stories I haven't finished. 
> 
> (If anyone is interested in turning this into a longer story, I am totally down for that. Just credit me as giving you the idea or whatever.)

“Can I be honest with you, Castiel?” Lisa adjusted her position on the couch so she was turned to face him squarely, one knee crooked up on the cushions. 

“Okay…” he replied hesitantly, not sure he wanted honesty from her. 

“I am jealous. But not of you. Not that you have him and I don’t anymore.” Castiel quirked one eyebrow, not sure that he believed her. “I’m jealous of what you two have. Because I don’t have it. With anyone. That’s what made me and Dean’s arrangement so nice for me. I could pretend. I could pretend that we were happy. And that things were good. I could pretend that I had a love to last a lifetime. And then…” 

“...and then he met me,” Castiel finished her sentence, tears coming to his eyes. His heart ached for her. For the pain she felt. He had felt that same pain before. 

“And then he met you.” Lisa smiled tightly through watery eyes. Her dream life had been just that: a dream. It wasn’t real. It never had been. And she knew that for sure now. 

\- - -

“Hey, babe, have you seen my red and black shirt?” Dean yelled from his squatted position in the walk-in closet.

“The buffalo plaid one?” Lisa yelled back, the curling iron still wrapped around her hair, perfecting her hairstyle for tonight’s date night. 

“Buffalo what?!” Dean paused in his search to turn toward her. 

“Buffalo plaid,” she huffed in mock exasperation, pulling the curling iron out and watching the piece of hair fall perfectly into place. “Red and black plaid.” 

“Why does it need a dumb name? Why can’t it just be red and black plaid?”

Lisa rolled her eyes and chuckled. “It’s in the laundry. It was dirty, so I put it downstairs to be washed with the next load.” 

“Baaaaabe,” Dean whined petulantly, “it’s my favorite shirt. I wanted to wear it tonight.” 

“It smelled, Dean,” Lisa threw him a look that said it was not open for discussion. 

“Maybe I like being smelly,” Dean groused teasingly as he pulled a green and black plaid shirt from its hanger. A clean green and black plaid shirt. 

“Smelly equals no sex,” Lisa added simply, turning back to monitor the piece of hair currently being curled around the curling iron. 

“Boo that!” Dean joked back, lightly slapping Lisa’s backside and winking at her in the mirror. 

“Always the charmer, Winchester,” Lisa laughed, sticking her tongue out at him. 

Dean chuckled and headed downstairs to grab Ben and get him ready. Dean was taking Ben to Uncle Sam’s while Lisa finished getting ready. It was their typical date night routine. A routine that worked well for all of them. Ben adored Sam and the feeling was mutual. Lisa and Dean got to have a night to themselves without worrying that Ben was safe, because they knew he was. Ben got spoiled by Uncle Sammy, while still being well cared for. And Dean and Lisa got to release sexual tension together, which is how their entire arrangement started. 

Lisa silently suspected that Dean would go running for the hills if they ever called their relationship a relationship. No, it was ‘an arrangement’. Just two people who had the same needs, meeting those needs. If Lisa was being honest with herself, she knew she didn’t love Dean. And she knew Dean didn’t love her. But she liked to pretend that they did. She liked to pretend that their life was Rockwellian perfect and that it would last forever. 

Lisa rolled her eyes and shook her head at her own idiocracy. “God, I sound like my mother,” she muttered to her own reflection. 

Her parents hadn’t been truly happy. Lisa knew that. But her mother had pretended like they were. Pretended through years of affairs and Dad threatening to leave every six months. But mom had always convinced dad to stay. Until Lisa became an adult, that is. Then, suddenly, once Lisa was grown up and moved out on her own, Dad left and Mom was left alone. Alone and sad. Lisa knew that was probably a huge contributing factor in her death: mom had no will to live anymore. So when the cancer came, that was that. Her mom barely tried to fight it. She died sad and alone. 

And that was the crux of things, wasn’t it? Lisa knew that if Dean ever left, she would be left sad and alone. Not that she was in love with Dean. She cared about him a lot. He was a great friend and a great person. And he was killer in the sack. But Lisa knew they weren’t in love. Maybe Lisa wasn’t even capable of falling in love. 

\- - - 

“I’m not mad at you,” Lisa said honestly. Castiel tilted his head to the side, as though he didn’t believe her. “I’m not. I’m really and truly not. I don’t love him.” At this admission, Castiel’s eyebrows shot up his forehead. “I don’t. I never did. And he knows it. He never loved me either. That wasn’t what our… arrangement was about.” 

“Then what was it about?” Castiel inquired.

“Scratching an itch…. At first. It was just a biological need. And then... “ 

“You developed feelings?” 

“No!” Lisa chuckled to herself. She really didn’t love him. “I mean, I care about him. Who wouldn’t? Dean’s amazing. But I knew we weren’t right for each other. But it was just so easy. And comfortable. Ben had a male role model. I had someone to cook for. He had someone to come home to. We had someone to cuddle up to on nights when life got hard. And, I mean seriously, who wouldn’t spend their evenings with Dean? He’s amazing!” 

“Yeah,” Castiel agreed, a smiling pulling at his mouth despite himself, “I think so, too.” 

“Can I be honest with you, Castiel?” Lisa adjusted her position on the couch so she was turned to face him squarely, one knee crooked up on the cushions. 

“Okay…” he replied hesitantly, not sure he wanted honesty from her. 

“I am jealous. But not of you. Not that you have him and I don’t anymore.” Castiel quirked one eyebrow, not sure that he believed her. “I’m jealous of what you two have. Because I don’t have it. With anyone. That’s what made me and Dean’s arrangement so nice for me. I could pretend. I could pretend that we were happy. And that things were good. I could pretend that I had a love to last a lifetime. And then…” 

“...and then he met me,” Castiel finished her sentence, tears coming to his eyes. His heart ached for her. For the pain she felt. He had felt that same pain before. 

“And then he met you.” Lisa smiled tightly through watery eyes. Her dream life had been just that: a dream. It wasn’t real. It never had been. And she knew that for sure now.


End file.
